A growing number of parents have launched appeals after their children failed to get into their first choice of primary school, new official figures indicate.

The number of appeals lodged for admission to a maintained primary school increased by 10.5 per cent from 2008/09 to 42,070 in 2009/10, according to new statistics published by the Department for Education.

Furthermore, the number of appeals heard by a panel climbed by 10.9 per cent from 2008/09 to 28,715 in 2009/10, although the proportion that were decided in favour of the parent dipped slightly, from 25 to 24.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, the average number of pupils taught in a key stage one class by one teacher on a given day in January 2011 was 26.9, up from 26.6 in January 2010, while the share of classes with more than 30 pupils climbed from 1.8 to 2.5 per cent.

At key stage two, average class size also increased from 26.8 to 27 pupils over this period, although the proportion with more than 30 pupils fell from 15 to 14.5 per cent.

Minister of State for Schools Nick Gibb MP commented: “It is clear that rising birth rates are increasing demand and pressure on primary places, with more parents unhappy with the lack of choice open to them.

“The education system has rationed places in good schools for too long.”

The figures also indicated that the share of nursery and primary school pupils receiving free school meals rose from 18.5 to 19.2 per cent between 2010 and 2011 and that the proportion from minority ethnic background increased from 25.5 to 26.5 per cent.

Last month, Lambeth Council in south London claimed that demand for primary school places had risen by 40 per cent in some parts of the borough over the past four years and forecast that it would need an extra 800 places by 2015.